Independence senior Nick Niro turned in a dominant pitching performance to lead the Blue Devils to a 7-0 win over St. Peter’s (NY) on Tuesday at The Ripken Experience in Myrtle Beach, S.C.
Niro allowed just two hits and struck out 10 in the complete game shutout.
“Niro really stepped up for us,” said Independence head coach Mike Gruber. “He threw the ball well. He had command of all his pitches and he just kept throwing strikes and keeping their hitters off balance. It was a nice performance by him.”
Niro threw first pitch strikes to 15 of 25 batters faced and 62 of his 94 pitches were on the mark.
He also tripled and knocked in a run for the Blue Devils, who scored two runs in the third inning and five in the fifth.
All 10 Independence batters had at least one hit in the game and James Schmetzer, Daniel Mathews, Joe Bernstein and Jake Watroba all had two.
“It was great to see,” Gruber said of the offensive output. “Everybody in the lineup was able to put the ball in play and we were aggressive on the base paths trying to take the extra base when we could.”
Schmetzer, Mathews and Steven Schmetzer all had doubles in the game.
Independence (3-2) plays Franklin-Simpson (KY) at 11:00 a.m. on Wednesday.
